Rafael
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Guys I have just heard Gen.Retd Hameed Gul saying in a local news channel that Blackwater has been asked to operate in Pakistan and they are coming in the form of trainers for FC. I need your take on this.
I have found this article about blackwater and how it is operated. thought u ppl may find this interesing.
Blackwater: An American Black Eye
September 26, 2007
by Robert W. Barker
|
In 2003 I met a gentleman from Orlando, Florida - a former Marine that was a Desert Strom veteran. He told me he now worked for Blackwater in Iraq doing security work, and I wondered, "what could that be?"
In the past, the United States frowned on the use of paid mercenaries except in extreme clandestine operations. Today, they are a major factor in the Iraq war, and the privatization of all facets of it have turned war into a profit-seeking enterprise. Private construction firms, oil contractors, and general military support groups have been given new powers and responsibilities in the Iraq conflict.
The strongest among these mercenaries is Blackwater USA - mostly former American military hired as protection for diplomats and other personal. Trained and organized on the 6000 acre facility in North Carolina, Blackwater USA has become the strongest and most feared military force in Iraq.
This is the military organization "founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives." And, at least 90% of its revenue comes from government contracts; two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts.
The first time most Americans became aware of Blackwater was the Fallujah incident where insurgents killed four "civilian contractors" and their bodies were hung on a bridge.
The sad incident was initially reported as if they were construction workers or civilian tech support, but further investigation proved they were mercenaries working for the U.S. Personally, I was shocked that the United States was hiring mercenaries in Iraq. I had already realized that Cheney-Bush were into privatizing everything in our government, but this one caught me off guard.
The later, official explanation for this incident was that these heavily armed mercenaries were in Fallujah to "protect food shipments." Yet, that day, there were no "food shipments" anywhere near the area. The Marines apparently traveled door-to-door arresting random men for interrogation. Therefore, there has been great speculation in Fallujah that these commandos were on a mission to capture or assassinate people fingered as part of the resistance. Obviously, such a mission had nothing to do with food supplies.
They were ambushed and killed, and their mutilated bodies were hung on a bridge crossing the Tigress River. The nation was shocked, and the Blackwater USA was mainstream news. When questioned concerning this operation, Blackwater refused to comment, and later claimed they were there for security for diplomats and guards for such things as food supplies, not for fighting or assassinating - as that would be against the Geneva Convention.
In August 2003, Blackwater was awarded a $21 million contract to provide security guards and two helicopters for Paul Bremer III, head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
Increasingly, the major task of Blackwater has been deploying its own mercenary army-- recruited from elite U.S. military forces (predominantly from Navy Seals and Marine's), SWAT police forces, and international soldiers of fortune.
Recently, it started training former Chilean commandos--some of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, for use in Iraq.
In the eyes of the Neo Cons and the Pentagon, there are many advantages to hiring mercenaries. The U.S. Pentagon does not count mercenaries as their soldiers, and it does not include dead mercenaries as military casualties. Therefore, the deployment of mercenaries means the Pentagon can downplay the size of its own involvement.
Also, the U.S. government is involved in increasing numbers of "under the radar" interventions and mini-wars all over the world. Using mercenaries to carry out these Blackwater ops enables the U.S. government to retain "plausible deniability" in the violation of sovereignty and the commitment of atrocities.
Another advantage is massive profit and corruption for the military officer corps. Military experts abandon the government payroll--yet use their in-house contacts to win massive war contracts for the same operations of logistics, training, and special operations they were already involved in. They become millionaires while continuing their former military assignments "in the private sector" and conduct these ops far outside the usual budgetary and political scrutiny.
In an American empire that loves private "capitalism" and profit, huge sections of the global machinery of killing is increasingly slipping into corporate hands. And this business of bellum is excellent. As time has gone on, more and more complaints have risen to the surface detailing Blackwater atrocities and crimes. Fear of the mercenary forces is rampant in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. Incidents of murder, kidnapping, and general havoc have surfaced over the last four years, and little has been done about it.
Iraqi officials repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA's alleged involvement in the deaths of innocent Iraqis, yet the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday. Previous to that episode, U.S. officials were made aware in high-level meetings and formal memorandums of Blackwater's alleged transgressions, yet nothing happened. They included six violent incidents this year - all allegedly involving the North Carolina firm - that left a total of at least 10 Iraqis dead. And this was just the surface.
The current escalating controversy stems from allegations that Blackwater personnel opened fire and killed innocent civilians in Iraq without defensible provocation. The Iraq government for the moment has banned the firm from further operations in the country.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly apologized for the strange incident, yet otherwise, the Bush administration is reacting with diplomatic doublespeak, stressing private contractors do not readily fall under U.S. or Iraqi jurisdiction. Early in the American occupation of Iraq, a directive was given insulating American personnel from prosecution in Iraqi courts. How convenient.
While the Bush Administration screams for the immediate disbanding of what it has called "private" and "illegal" militias in Lebanon and Iraq, the same administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army. The highly secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been a great profit windfall for the heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater USA.
Government records recently exposed by "The Nation" reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" globally. The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date, and reveals how the Administration has elevated a small North Carolina security firm into a major profiteer in the "war on terror." Furthermore, we see more corruption alleged to have been Blackwater's doings.
On September 22nd, 2007, Federal prosecutors exposed that an investigation was underway pertaining to Blackwater employees illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq that were later possibly transferred to the PKK, a Kurdish nationalist group. This group was designated a terrorist organization by the U. S. State Department. The investigation is being conducted by North Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office with aid from auditors of the Defense and State departments. Officials claim that there is enough mounting evidence to file charges as was reported to The Associated Press on September 22nd.
A few years ago, Bush/Cheney made it imperative that if American personnel to be deployed in Iraq they would be granted "immunity from prosecution." Now we understand what he was able to atain, and that is- Protection for American private armies to engage in indiscriminate killings!
As this bellum rolls on and we see the conflict for what it really is, it becomes apparent that we are backing a right wing military group that works for a small number of corporate ventures and war profiteers - and the rest of us are victims of the privatization of public duty.
Blackwater, and those that do this type work, are outside the conventions of civility, and as such have been implicated in many atrocities in Iraq. But the globe sees this as an American black eye and we are the war-mongering people turning lose wild mercenaries on the world.
Profits from war have filled the coffers of the far right stemming from this bellum of no plausible base or reason, while the reputation and hate grow stronger towards the America people - increasing the possibility of further terror and the terror is deemed almost justifiable to the rest of the shocked world.
I have found this article about blackwater and how it is operated. thought u ppl may find this interesing.
Blackwater: An American Black Eye
September 26, 2007
by Robert W. Barker
|
In 2003 I met a gentleman from Orlando, Florida - a former Marine that was a Desert Strom veteran. He told me he now worked for Blackwater in Iraq doing security work, and I wondered, "what could that be?"
In the past, the United States frowned on the use of paid mercenaries except in extreme clandestine operations. Today, they are a major factor in the Iraq war, and the privatization of all facets of it have turned war into a profit-seeking enterprise. Private construction firms, oil contractors, and general military support groups have been given new powers and responsibilities in the Iraq conflict.
The strongest among these mercenaries is Blackwater USA - mostly former American military hired as protection for diplomats and other personal. Trained and organized on the 6000 acre facility in North Carolina, Blackwater USA has become the strongest and most feared military force in Iraq.
This is the military organization "founded by ultra-right-wing Christian conservatives." And, at least 90% of its revenue comes from government contracts; two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts.
The first time most Americans became aware of Blackwater was the Fallujah incident where insurgents killed four "civilian contractors" and their bodies were hung on a bridge.
The sad incident was initially reported as if they were construction workers or civilian tech support, but further investigation proved they were mercenaries working for the U.S. Personally, I was shocked that the United States was hiring mercenaries in Iraq. I had already realized that Cheney-Bush were into privatizing everything in our government, but this one caught me off guard.
The later, official explanation for this incident was that these heavily armed mercenaries were in Fallujah to "protect food shipments." Yet, that day, there were no "food shipments" anywhere near the area. The Marines apparently traveled door-to-door arresting random men for interrogation. Therefore, there has been great speculation in Fallujah that these commandos were on a mission to capture or assassinate people fingered as part of the resistance. Obviously, such a mission had nothing to do with food supplies.
They were ambushed and killed, and their mutilated bodies were hung on a bridge crossing the Tigress River. The nation was shocked, and the Blackwater USA was mainstream news. When questioned concerning this operation, Blackwater refused to comment, and later claimed they were there for security for diplomats and guards for such things as food supplies, not for fighting or assassinating - as that would be against the Geneva Convention.
In August 2003, Blackwater was awarded a $21 million contract to provide security guards and two helicopters for Paul Bremer III, head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
Increasingly, the major task of Blackwater has been deploying its own mercenary army-- recruited from elite U.S. military forces (predominantly from Navy Seals and Marine's), SWAT police forces, and international soldiers of fortune.
Recently, it started training former Chilean commandos--some of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, for use in Iraq.
In the eyes of the Neo Cons and the Pentagon, there are many advantages to hiring mercenaries. The U.S. Pentagon does not count mercenaries as their soldiers, and it does not include dead mercenaries as military casualties. Therefore, the deployment of mercenaries means the Pentagon can downplay the size of its own involvement.
Also, the U.S. government is involved in increasing numbers of "under the radar" interventions and mini-wars all over the world. Using mercenaries to carry out these Blackwater ops enables the U.S. government to retain "plausible deniability" in the violation of sovereignty and the commitment of atrocities.
Another advantage is massive profit and corruption for the military officer corps. Military experts abandon the government payroll--yet use their in-house contacts to win massive war contracts for the same operations of logistics, training, and special operations they were already involved in. They become millionaires while continuing their former military assignments "in the private sector" and conduct these ops far outside the usual budgetary and political scrutiny.
In an American empire that loves private "capitalism" and profit, huge sections of the global machinery of killing is increasingly slipping into corporate hands. And this business of bellum is excellent. As time has gone on, more and more complaints have risen to the surface detailing Blackwater atrocities and crimes. Fear of the mercenary forces is rampant in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. Incidents of murder, kidnapping, and general havoc have surfaced over the last four years, and little has been done about it.
Iraqi officials repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA's alleged involvement in the deaths of innocent Iraqis, yet the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday. Previous to that episode, U.S. officials were made aware in high-level meetings and formal memorandums of Blackwater's alleged transgressions, yet nothing happened. They included six violent incidents this year - all allegedly involving the North Carolina firm - that left a total of at least 10 Iraqis dead. And this was just the surface.
The current escalating controversy stems from allegations that Blackwater personnel opened fire and killed innocent civilians in Iraq without defensible provocation. The Iraq government for the moment has banned the firm from further operations in the country.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly apologized for the strange incident, yet otherwise, the Bush administration is reacting with diplomatic doublespeak, stressing private contractors do not readily fall under U.S. or Iraqi jurisdiction. Early in the American occupation of Iraq, a directive was given insulating American personnel from prosecution in Iraqi courts. How convenient.
While the Bush Administration screams for the immediate disbanding of what it has called "private" and "illegal" militias in Lebanon and Iraq, the same administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army. The highly secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been a great profit windfall for the heavily Republican-connected firm in particular: Blackwater USA.
Government records recently exposed by "The Nation" reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" globally. The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date, and reveals how the Administration has elevated a small North Carolina security firm into a major profiteer in the "war on terror." Furthermore, we see more corruption alleged to have been Blackwater's doings.
On September 22nd, 2007, Federal prosecutors exposed that an investigation was underway pertaining to Blackwater employees illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq that were later possibly transferred to the PKK, a Kurdish nationalist group. This group was designated a terrorist organization by the U. S. State Department. The investigation is being conducted by North Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office with aid from auditors of the Defense and State departments. Officials claim that there is enough mounting evidence to file charges as was reported to The Associated Press on September 22nd.
A few years ago, Bush/Cheney made it imperative that if American personnel to be deployed in Iraq they would be granted "immunity from prosecution." Now we understand what he was able to atain, and that is- Protection for American private armies to engage in indiscriminate killings!
As this bellum rolls on and we see the conflict for what it really is, it becomes apparent that we are backing a right wing military group that works for a small number of corporate ventures and war profiteers - and the rest of us are victims of the privatization of public duty.
Blackwater, and those that do this type work, are outside the conventions of civility, and as such have been implicated in many atrocities in Iraq. But the globe sees this as an American black eye and we are the war-mongering people turning lose wild mercenaries on the world.
Profits from war have filled the coffers of the far right stemming from this bellum of no plausible base or reason, while the reputation and hate grow stronger towards the America people - increasing the possibility of further terror and the terror is deemed almost justifiable to the rest of the shocked world.
